Sunday, April 1, 2012

The AP published a series of articles on the New York Police Department's constitutionally suspect surveillance of Muslims in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and beyond, in businesses, colleges, mosques and neighborhoods. They found that the scrutiny was often based on ethnicity, not possible wrongdoing. Despite the defense of Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the program has been criticized by Michael B. Ward, the agent in charge of the FBI's Newark office, for alienating Muslims who cooperated with the Terrorism Task Force; Attorney General Eric Holder, and university and Muslim leaders. Matt Rothschild (left), editor of The Progressive, surveys the snooping and comments that Bloomberg is "being Cheney-esque in his rationale for guilt by association and racial profiling–and that's no compliment." Listen:
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